2014-07-08 - Tuesday - Blood, sweat, and ferns

Tuesday I repaired the tiller, and luckily it was a quick fix.  I broke up the chunks from yesterday, added 400 lbs of topsoil and 4 bags of mushroom compost, and tilled it all in.

I planted the nandinas after chopping out several maple tree roots.  I had to work around the larger roots which were as thick as my arm.  I then planted the ferns from the plant rescue, and some lenten roses from friends.  Once that was done I top-dressed it with some partially composted hardwood mulch that has been in the yard for a couple of years.  Rich stuff.

The temperature was 78 F when I started and it was 93 F when I finished.  If we sweat out our toxins I believe I am currently toxin-free.

I'm sad to report that the dogwood did not make it.  I think I am just not supposed to have a dogwood tree.

While cooling down before heading inside, I snapped a photo of the callow lily by the raised garden beds and the boardwalk I put between the beds.  On Saturday I ripped an old section of dog eared fence to make the walk.

I really need to plant more of these.

The boardwalk to nowhere.

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2014-07-07 - Monday - Hard work and hazelnuts

On Sunday we made a plant rescue run, and got some more ferns and a dogwood.  Let's see if I can get this one to live.  On the right below are some dwarf nandinas that I purchased at a local greenhouse.  I am going to use the nandinas and ferns in the new flowerbeds by the porch, but first I have to till the soil up and amend it.

I have a small Mantis tiller that works great on many things, but rock-hard clay is not one of them.  I turned over the beds with a pitchfork and shovel which was no easy feat.  I planned on using the tiller to break up the chunks and mix in the amendments.  Unfortunately the primer bulb on the Mantis had cracked over the winter so I had to go get replacement parts.

I purchased 800 lbs of topsoil and six bags of mushroom compost to add to the clay, but I guess they will have to wait until tomorrow when I get the tiller back together.

My friend Nick gave me some hazelnuts a couple of years ago and they have really leapt this year.  They are a formidable size and two of the three are absolutely laden with nut clusters.  I have never seen so many nuts in each cluster before.  Unfortunately I have to wait for a month or more for them to ripen and last year the day the ripened the deer took all but two of them overnight.

I'm thinking about a temporary six foot fence...

The dogwood is pretty droopy.
Keep your fingers crossed.

Water break.

Finally!  This stuff is like concrete.

I'm using some of the old pavers to keep the soil in place
when it rains.  I ultimately want to get a couple of
nice rain barrels with planters on top.

The Mantis tiller
patiently waiting for parts.

Amendments.

Tuneage makes the job go easier.

Oh yeah, the grill came with a cover.

The hazelnuts are quite large.

Pods.

Lots of pods.

Lots of pods on each branch.

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2010-05-08 Saturday - Part 3: Home again, home again, jiggety jog

After my big Saturday I came home and checked on some of my plants (and pots).  I am trying to incorporate some of my pottery into the plantings in the yard.  I think they look good, and I like to be surrounded by it wherever I am around the house.

Remember this post about the final blow to the dogwood tree?  I said I remained hopeful, and it has apparently paid off for me.  There is tiny push of new growth on the maimed dogwood.  I remain guardedly hopeful.

Pots in the landscape.

The first attempt at a crackled pot.

(The bottom blew out in the bisque firing.)

Another pot that was rather heavy, but lovable.

More of those chartreuse hostas.

New ferns that look like they may or may not make it.

The witch hazel.

I really like these hostas.

Look at the form of it.

The injured dogwood.

But what's this on the top?

Yes! Nature strives to survive.

2010-04-10 Saturday - Front yard - The Carnage

Three years ago a good friend of ours dug a dogwood out of the woods behind her house in Waxhaw and gave it to us.  I planted it in the front yard and mulched it, and watered it through the drought.  It was small, but it had two branches full of leaves on a thin trunk.  I was hopeful.

Last year a squirrel pulled one of the branches off it which accounted for half of the tree.  I shook my fist at the squirrels (a regular event at our house), cleaned it up, and watered what was left.  It was unbalanced, but it was alive.  I was hopeful.

Saturday I was out in the front yard and noticed that a branch had fallen from the willow oaks (a way too regular occurrence).  Only one branch had fallen in the whole yard and it fell on my half a dogwood snapping the remaining portion off completely.  I shook my fist at the willow oak, shook my head, and threw the branch away.  I just pray that the dogwood will have the same will to survive that the hollies I am trying to eradicate exhibit and sprout anew.  I am cautiously hopeful.

To compound matters, I got another dogwood from my friend Nic (who also helped me plant it) and there is currently not one leaf on it.  Perhaps I am just not meant to have a dogwood in the yard.

I remain hopeful.

The perpetrator and the victim.

The victim, the carnage, the horror.